Saturday, October 17, 2009

Bank of America loses $2.2B
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Bank of America Corp. said Friday it lost more than $2.2 billion in the third quarter as loan losses kept rising, providing more evidence that consumers are still struggling to pay their bills.

People in Business
Realtor Carol J. Burnett of Prudential Ada Realtors has received her designation as a fine homes international specialist. Burnett now joins a network of certified home specialists who are specially trained to serve clients in the luxury homes market.

Goldman exec named to SEC enforcement
WASHINGTON - A Goldman Sachs executive has been named the first chief operating officer of the Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement division.

GM retail share up from third-quarter average
SANTA MONICA, Calif. - General Motors Co.'s retail market share will climb to 22.4 percent in October, helped by new product launches and surging ad spending, according to a preliminary analysis by Edmunds.com.

6 execs suspected of insider trading
NEW YORK - One of America's wealthiest men was among six hedge fund managers and corporate executives arrested Friday in a hedge fund insider trading case that prosecutors say reaped more than $20 million in illegal profits and should be a wake-up call for Wall Street.

Crude highest in a year
NEW YORK - Oil prices finished above $78 per barrel for the first time in a year, marking the largest percentage increase in the cost of crude since the height of the summer driving season. Retail gas prices have begun to tag along.

Whitney Rose Cone
Dr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Donald Cone of Amarillo announce the engagement of their daughter, Whitney of Nashville, Tenn., to James Christian Upchurch of Fort Campbell, Ky. Grandparents of the bride-elect are Mrs. Zenas W. Hutcheson of Amarillo and the late Dr. Zenas W. Hutcheson and Dr. and Mrs. Jesse D. Cone of Odessa.

Shiloh McKnight
Lisa and Mark McKnight of Amarillo announce the engagement of their daughter, Shiloh, to Jacob Bingham. Grandparents of the bride-elect are Jacque and Louis McKnight, Elizabeth Collins and Gordon Prather.

Nicole Christina Long
Mr. and Mrs. Rick Long of Coppell announce the engagement of their daughter, Nicole, to Hunter Herring of Amarillo. Grandparents of the bride-elect are Mr. and Mrs. Ken Hubbard and Mr. and Mrs. Rice Long.

Churches do their part to stop flu's spread
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - After weeks of listening to parishioners sniffle in the pews, and worrying about the spread of the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend decided its flock needed to make some sacrifices.

Faith Briefs
In celebration of 25 years of ministry, Metropolitan Community Church of Amarillo will have game night at 7 p.m. today at the church, 2123 S. Polk St. Activities will include games, snacks and fellowship. The Rev. Vicki Anderson will be the guest speaker at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

History of astronomy on display
VATICAN CITY - Rudimentary telescopes, celestial globes and original manuscripts by Galileo are going on view at the Vatican Museums as part of an exhibit marking the 400th anniversary of the astronomer's first celestial observations.

Heloise: Study guinea pigs before buying
Dear Readers: A new movie was recently released featuring animated guinea pigs. This probably will result in families looking to add a guinea pig to their household. You should do your research before you bring one home. Guinea pigs can live five to seven years and require regular veterinary care, just like other house pets. Here are some things you should keep in mind before you buy one:

Heloise: Baking soda is versatile
Dear Heloise: I change the baking-soda fridge boxes regularly and keep one every other month to use as a multipurpose cleaner. I usually empty it into one of those plastic spice jars. I keep one under the kitchen sink and find that it cleans my stainless-steel sink better than anything else, as it takes away the oiliness and grime left over. Sometimes I mix it with dishwashing liquid when we've had greasy food. - Roma, Edison, N.J.

Bob Hatton: Organic gardens benefit soil too
Organic gardeners long have known of the benefits of feeding the soil. And, while many such gardeners are motivated to use organic practices to avoid insecticides, herbicides and other chemicals for personal health reasons, the practice also results in creating healthier soil. Healthier soil grows healthier plants with fewer inputs, such as water, nutrients and human labor, etc.

Late kick propels Sandies
MIDLAND - The old saying about defense winning games was proven Friday night at Grande Communications Stadium, even though the Amarillo High Sandies needed their placekicker to decide it.

Perryton falls to Cooper on missed PAT
A missed extra point after the Perryton Rangers' final touchdown was the difference in a 21-20 District 1-3A loss to Lubbock Cooper on their home turf.

Who's hot: Miami Warriors
The Miami Warriors were off last week, but they are 6-0 entering tonight's Six-Man Division II District 1 game at Lefors.

Rebel linemen going two ways
In Class 5A, it's unusual to have players starting on both sides of the ball. What's more rare is to have linemen going both ways, but that's exactly what Tascosa has been doing this season.

Rebels dealt stunning loss
The best news for the Tascosa Rebels on Thursday night was they were able to pull off three trick plays from kick formations, giving future District 2-5A opponents something to think about.

Defense when it counts
When two teams combine for 97 points and more than 1,200 yards of offense, it's hard to find a lot of silver linings defensively. And in Parr Bowl III, where Palo Duro (coached by father Steve) beat Caprock (coached by son Seth) 55-42, neither father nor son had much reason to gloat about defensive performance.

Spearman to challenge Bushland
The Bushland Falcons go for their 17th straight regular-season win, while the River Road Wildcats will try to stay perfect against the Highland Park Hornets in District 1-2A games set for 7:30 tonight.

Naz continues district streak
Quarterback Sage Black's two-point conversion run with just under two minutes to play last week enabled the Nazareth Swifts to extend their district win streak to 21 games in a 43-42 win against Bovina in District 3-1A. The Swifts were trailing 34-14 after three quarters before scoring 29 points in the final period. Black scored on runs of 12 and 1 yard, and Ryan Birkenfeld caught an 18-yard TD pass from Black and scored from 1 yard out with 1:47 to play. The Swifts will try for district win No. 22 in a row tonight at Vega.

A state record for Palo Duro?
Travis Steward of Dave Campbell's Texas Football did a favor and sent e-mails to his correspondents throughout the state. He asked whether anybody knew of a high school game in which two running backs from the same team eclipsed 300 yards rushing.

Looking back: Oct. 18, 1968
Dannie Gardner ran for two touchdowns, passed for one and returned an interception 80 yards for another as the Amarillo High Sandies beat Pampa, 47-7, before 4,500 fans at Dick Bivins Stadium.

Call in games reminder
Home team correspondents need to call in scoring summaries and statistics to the Globe-News as quickly as possible after their games to get results into Saturday's edition. Please report the names of both teams' players in scoring summaries. Call the Globe-News Sports Department at 800-692-4052 or 806-376-4488.

Sanford-Fritch upsets Panthers
Sanford-Fritch's offensive line cleared the way for Dalton Everett to run for 140 yards during the Eagles' 27-13 District 1-2A win against the Panhandle Panthers on Friday night.

Sandies don't expect shootout
With sole possession of second place in District 2-5A football on the line, it will be strength vs. strength when the Amarillo High Sandies visit the Midland High Bulldogs tonight.

Big Ticket Games
Canadian (5-1, 1-0) at Stratford (5-1, 1-0), 7:30 p.m.: The Texas Panhandle teams of the decade collide in a classic. The visiting team has won the last three in this series.

Fan of the week
This week's Fan of the Week contest winner is Bonnie Bergan of Spearman. Her winning photo was of three 12-year-olds at the Spearman-Highland Park game Oct. 9. The three are: Tanner Baird, left, Peyton Garnett and Zane Hughes.

What's it like ... being the center in a shotgun formation offense?
"I have been a center since seventh grade in this offense, so this is my fifth year and I'm used to it. It was really different at first because whenever we played in Kids, Inc., it was all under center and we ran the ball most of the time. There are no real tricks to it. Me being smaller than most of the people we play, I try to stay low and use my quickness once I have snapped it.

Schedule
Individual tickets range from $24 to $16. Group ticket packages range from $12 to $8 per ticket. Season ticket packages range from $188 to $600 for 16 and 32-game packages, and season seat deals are as low as $11.72 a game. Game coupons for $2 off per ticket are available at the team's Web site - www.amarillo- gorillas.com. For more information call the Gorillas offices at 806-242-7825.

Returning Gorillas
Head Coach Brian Pellerin: Played for Rattlers/Gorillas in 2002-03. Had 281 penalty minutes in 114 games. Went 9-19-3 as Gorillas head coach last season, taking over in January.

Central Hockey League
The CHL is in its 18th season. Fifteen teams will be divided into two conferences (no divisions) - an eight-team Southern Conference and a seven-team Northern Conference. Ten teams will make the playoffs - five from each conference.

Working to turn things around
The aforementioned quote is attributed to Smith, author of a series of books on Bible studies, and is painted on the wall outside the Amarillo Gorillas locker room at Cal Farley Coliseum.

On the edge of common sense: Some skills elude me
There are some skilled people I envy; good ropers, flattop guitar pickers and songwriters to start with. I've always prided myself on my ability to build a good fence. But when I'm ridin' the fence line with a major domo wire wrangler and see him use fencing pliers with the dexterity of a surgeon tying knots, I realize my shortcomings.

Police offer e-mail, text notifications
Amarillo police are implementing a new electronic alert system capable of quickly sending text and e-mail messages to notify residents of emergencies or other police matters.

Langford losing property
John Langford, the Amarillo businessman accused of bilking investors of more than $5 million, will lose three pieces of property while he awaits the outcome of criminal charges and a forced bankruptcy.

Small house fire started in trash pile
A fire that appears to have started in a pile of trash on the back porch of an Amarillo home sparked a small house fire Thursday afternoon, Amarillo firefighters said.

Murder suspect missing
Authorities searched into the night Thursday for a 78-year-old man who they say fatally shot his wife in front of their grandchildren.

H1N1 closes 2 more Panhandle schools
Student illnesses have forced two more Texas Panhandle school districts to close for the rest of the week, according to the state's education agency.

Auto dealer Messer dies
LUBBOCK - Longtime West Texas auto dealer Delmar "Gene" Messer, who died Wednesday after a long battle with Parkinson's disease, was a strong man to the end. He was 79.

New wells save $20M
Amarillo will save more than $20 million in interest on financing a new source of water.

Many protest Obama's A&M visit
COLLEGE STATION - Several hundred protesters, some carrying signs reading "Nobama" and "We Don't Want Your Change," gathered at Texas A&M University on Friday to protest President Obama's visit to the traditionally conservative school.

Help in an emergency
Most people don't think about what happens when they dial 911 until they are forced to make that critical call. The city of Amarillo now is taking steps to streamline emergency call services.

Long-term transportation plans OK'd
An Amarillo panel on Thursday approved a plan for long-term transportation projects in the city, though future funding for such work remains in question.

Letter: Autopsies need reform
Forensic autopsies are often careless in the state of Texas. Medical examiners have misidentified bodies, botched examinations and had to redo cases. A medical examiner does not have to be trained in forensics or pass a specialty exam to do an autopsy. All that is required is a state medical license. So how many innocent men and women are in prison because of a botched autopsy?

Letter: Prize way too premature
Awarding President Obama the Nobel Peace Prize not even two weeks into his presidency - the cut-off date was Feb. 1 - is like awarding a first-year educator the "Teacher of the Year Award," before the first PTA meeting.

Editorial: Err on side of caution
Several dozen northern Panhandle students have received a surprise "vacation" of sorts from school - but not for anything approaching a happy occasion.

Guest Picker: Charly Martin
Buffs WR 2004-08; Rookie member of the Carolina Panthers practice squad; Had seven receptions for 88 yards and returned three kickoffs for 72 yards with the San Diego Chargers in preseason before being waived during final cuts.